I am considering applying for admission to a part time MSW program. I am in my early 40's and have two children in elementary school. It would be a three year commitment. I would love to hear from social workers, particularly those with an MSW. Is it worth it (the cost, time commitment) to pursue an advanced degree? Would you do it again? Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!
I'm not a social worker, but I did do a masters degree part time with little children. It was well worth it. One week after I completed it I was offered the best job of my career as a direct result of my degree.
And just remember if you're worried about your age and the time it will take to get your qualification - you'll be turning 45 anyway - you can either do it with your degree, or without. I think with is better.
I think it would would depend on what you do with the degree. Social workers who work as conscelors would make more then social workers that work for the state.
I've thought a while about answering this question. My BA's were going to be a BA in Psychology.
My 2nd BA was going to be in Sociology with a minor in Social Work. My plan was to go through ABSEd for a Masters in Developmental Disabilities, it was called Mental Retardation back them though. I wanted to be a lobbyist and influence people who make laws to allow more rights to people who have developmental disabilities. I had high expectations of being able to make so many peoples lives better.
I was injured on the job and had to drop out my last semester in college. I miss having at least one of my degrees nearly every day. My life would be so much easier if I was able to work at the level of work I want to. I have done my time in the trenches and want to work in a more administrative level now.
If I had the ability to go back to school and finish even one of my degrees I would be there right now.
My friend has an MSW degree from the university of LV and she has used it almost all her adult life. She suffers from health issues now and is not able to work anymore. She was able to pull in over $100K per year working in a private setting doing mostly counseling. She did work for the state of Oklahoma for a while at DHS in child welfare for a short time but moved away.
I do wonder though, why only go 3 hours per semester and take so long. One of my friends got her Masters in education in 2 summers. She worked as a teacher during the year. She is working in administration now.
I think that if you are going to go for it then you should go full time. You will have a lot of outside work to do but once the kids are in classes full time you could take on more. Perhaps once you see how you do the first semester you will feel better and more capable.
I think that getting this degree will open doors for higher pay and more status. You can also get tenure at a Jr. College teaching in the social sciences. You don't have to stay in a job as a regular state job worker. You could go to work in the school system and be their resident counselor. You can do evaluations and really help some kids.
There are also the benefits of being able to move anywhere and still be able to go right to work, even if it's just hanging out a shingle until you get a job working for someone else.
I say go for it.
I looked into social work - but unless it is something you are really wanting to do - the pay just is not very good, check out the BLS website, I believe it is only in the region of $40000 a year, not a great return for 3 years and a masters degree IMHO.
